


as we huddle together, the storm raging outside

by respoftw



Series: 35 Ways To Say I Love You In The Pegasus Galaxy [20]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Established Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M, domestic fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 09:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8199376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: Rodney was forty-one years old and scared of thunderstorms.





	

Rodney was forty-one years old and scared of thunderstorms.

Storms never used to bother Rodney, even as a kid he'd known enough about the science behind the formation of rainclouds, thunder and lightning that they had held no fear for him.

Atlantis, or more accurately _Kolya_ , had taken that easy acceptance of storms away from him. Storms weren't just about cumulonimbus clouds, moisture, unstable air and lift anymore. Instead, they brought to mind the pain of sharp steel cutting skin and the helplessness that he had felt at the hands of Kolya's men.

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Dorian's yells were quiet compared to the howling wind outside but they reached Rodney's ears with a bone chillingly perfect clarity.

Rodney unfurled himself from his covers and ran across their quarters, his feet padding silently against the cold tile and the occasional flash of lightning the only illumination. Slamming the door to Dorian's bedroom open he found his son curled up in the covers, his head under the pillow, much the way Rodney had been lying in his own bed only moments before.

"Hey baby," he soothed. "Daddy's here. What's wrong?"

"S'loud," Dorian whimpered. "I don' like it."

Rodney sat down on Dorian's bed and lifted Dorian onto his lap. He stroked his hand up and down Dorian's back as arms that were just starting to lose their baby fat wrapped around him. "I know, baby," he whispered. "It's loud but it's just," he swallowed against the sudden flash of steel that the lightning brought to mind. "It's just a storm. It can't hurt you."

A particularly loud clap of thunder boomed outside the window then, causing Dorian to let out a strangled sob of fear. Truthfully, Rodney felt like doing the same but he had to push that aside, push all of it aside, Kolya, the siege, the fact that John was stuck on the mainland, grounded by the weather, and put on a brave face. For Dorian.

There was nothing he wouldn't do for Dorian.

"I'm scared," Dorian whimpered.

"There's nothing to be scared of," Rodney promised. "It's just science, baby. That's all it is."

"What kind of science?" Dorian asked. "Cos Uncle 'Dek said that science can be dangerous and we have to be careful we don't get hurted."

Rodney was going to kill Radek in the morning. "This isn't that kind of science, I promise. Thunderstorms are an easy science."

"Like geology?" Dorian asked.

"Exactly," Rodney said. "Like geology."

A flash of lightning illuminated the room, and Rodney could see Dorian's hazel eyes, so full of trust, looking up at him. "I want to learn," he asked. "Will you teach me about storms, Daddy?"

Rodney pulled Dorian closer and wrapped the duvet around them both. He dropped a kiss on Dorian's curls

"Of course, baby. There are three key ingredients for any storm...."

By the time Rodney was finished explaining the correlation between thunder and lightning and how you could use it to determine how far away the storm was, Dorian was much calmer despite the storm raging on outside.

He was surprised to realise that he felt much calmer himself.

"It's not so scary now, Daddy," Dorian smiled at him.

"That's my brave boy," Rodney grinned. "You think you can go back to sleep?"

Dorian nodded. "Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?" He asked. "Just in case."

"Just in case," Rodney promised.

"Love you, Daddy."

"Love you too, baby."

-

Rodney blinked awake to an aching neck, a sprawled out Dorian on his chest and sunshine on his face.

"Good morning sleepyheads," John drawled from his place leaning against the doorframe.

"What time is it?" Rodney muttered. "I thought you were on the mainland?"

"It's 6, we flew back as soon as the storm cleared, I wanted to make sure you were both ok."

Rodney gently rolled Dorian on to the mattress as he got up, smiling at the soft snores his son was making. He idly wondered when that stopped being cute and started becoming a flaw.

"We're good," he said as he pushed past John in search of coffee. "The storm woke Dor up but I got him back to sleep."

"He wasn't scared?" John asked.

"Why would he be scared?" Rodney blustered, like John wasn't aware exactly how much Rodney hated thunderstorms. "It's just science. Nothing to be scared of."

John grinned and pressed a small kiss against Rodney's temple. "That's my brave boys," he teased.

Rodney pushed him away with a huff. "You reek," he complained. "Go and shower before I get Dor up for school."

"Brave boys get rewards, you know," John said with a wicked glint in his eye.

"Oh yeah?"

"Hmmm," John stripped off his shirt and threw it in the laundry basket. "I'm thinking banana muffins for Dor and maybe something else for my other brave boy?"

Rodney raised his eyebrow. "What kind of something else?"

"You might have to follow me into the shower to find out," John grinned.

Casting an appraising look at Dorian's bedroom, Rodney was reasonably certain they had at least forty five minutes until he got up.

"Well," Rodney stripped his own sleep shirt off. "I was pretty brave...."

**Author's Note:**

> Not all I love you's in the Pegasus Galaxy are romantic 'I love you's" :)
> 
> As always, you can find me on [Tumblr](http://buffycuddlespigs.tumblr.com)


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